


current events

by 2pork



Series: rose’s 500-word fic exchange [3]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Fluff, Little Shits In Love, M/M, Some Humor, aquarium date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-13 21:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14120943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2pork/pseuds/2pork
Summary: in breaking news, jihoon arrives early to a date.





	current events

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chamseobs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chamseobs/gifts).



> (500-word fic exchange)
> 
> For the prompt— actually this is not the seaworld antics you asked for, sorry. and it's months late too. sorry again. ;-;

_‘i messed up,’_ jihoon concludes as he alights at yeouido station one chilly weekend morning. his lockscreen proudly proclaims 8:15 in stark white against his darker background (a silhouette selca, taken with more luck than skill by woojin); too early for aqua planet to be open. the weather forecast has turned out surprisingly accurate. just outside the subway station, jihoon risks a crick in his neck to scowl at the densely shrouded sky and wonders why the weather decided to conform to societal expectations today of all days.

a breeze tickling the back of his neck–he’d forgotten his scarf _again—_ drives a violent shiver through his body. ‘ _i_ really _messed up_ ,’ he thinks again. stuffing his frozen hands into the deep pockets of his coat, jihoon waddles towards the convenience store for a couple of hand warmers.

 

it takes too long for his body to warm up even inside the store but he doesn’t spare it another thought, instead making his way deeper into the store to browse the snack selection. with the temperature outside dropping beyond what he’d predicted, the array of cup ramen starts to look more and more alluring.

then again, jihoon can always wait out the extra time at a cafe before heading to the designated meeting spot. a peek into his screen confirms that he still has an hour to waste. the way things are going, it could very well be the longest hour of his life.

his coat pocket vibrates.

a photo of jihoon splashes across the chat window: knee-length tan coat with the collar just turned up ( _very hard-boiled — 8:21 a.m._ ) and windswept brown hair against a backdrop of instant noodles ( _don’t get anything too spicy — 8:21 a.m._ and _you already have me — 8:22 a.m._ ). jihoon’s head snaps towards the window and there woojin is, snickering away outside.

he would have looked like a dark phantom if not for the burnt orange scarf snugly looped around his neck, an unusual burst of color.

turning back to the screen, jihoon types a query into the search bar, screenshots and sends woojin the first few results for _what to do if my boyfriend is a stalker_.

on the other side of the window, woojin starts dancing _run devil run_.

 

“ _jackass penguin_ ,” woojin says in carefully enunciated english.

the two are huddled together inside a cafe, sharing 2 cups of drinks between them for some variety. jihoon is currently nursing a blessedly warm sweet potato latte while woojin grimaces through the scalding unsweetened green tea. they switch cups.

“ _jackass penguin_ ,” woojin repeats perkily after a sip of the more forgiving latte.

jihoon rolls his eyes. “if your mother only knew.”

“she’d want to see the _jackass penguins_ in person.”

“she’d shove a bar of soap down your throat.”

“we’ve been using liquid hand soap lately,” says woojin, tapping on the browser to look up jackass penguins. “huh. apparently the sound they make is similar to donkeys.”

“any relation to you?” jihoon smirks over his tea.

woojin snorts.

“i dunno. covered in black? flightless? sounds like an ass? the list goes on.”

woojin pulls up a picture of a crab and says, “that’s you. wider than you’re tall.”

jihoon kicks his leg in retaliation and pretends not to hear the muted, “worth it.”

 

it’s a lot smaller and more cramped than jihoon expected but he’s finally warm enough to shed his coat. woojin keeps his on, and it’s on the hem of his sleeve that jihoon finds purchase, pinching the fabric between his fingers so they don’t drift apart.

jihoon tugs on the sleeve experimentally and blinks as woojin pauses in his step, slides their hands together, and pulls him a bit closer so that woojin’s lips are right by jihoon’s ear.

“what is it?” woojin asks, absent-minded, eyes caught by one of the displays.

“oh, uh.” the sudden proximity stuns him just enough that it takes him a few moments to reply. “did... did you check the schedule of activities?”

he gets a sheepish lilt of the shoulder. “skimmed parts of it. i was too excited.”

jihoon understands that, having barely slept two hours and even those precious two were fitful. the resulting eyebags were not this morning’s best surprise. though not so terrible as to call off a date, jihoon has to admit his vanity took a beating. “me neither. i should’ve thought of it, since i asked you here,” he mutters dejectedly.

the hand wrapped around his own tighten for a few seconds before settling into a loose tangle of fingers. “there’s a mermaid show in fifteen. a bit after that, they’re gonna feed the sea otters,” says woojin, head still turned away, not looking anywhere in particular unless he’s looking at the bare wall on purpose. “we can just look around until then.”

 

in the awkward lull between the mermaid show and otter feeding, they circle back to some of the exhibits that they’d rushed through earlier.

“hey, do those seaweed look weird to you?” woojin asks. he stops abruptly, hauling jihoon back by the arm, and they spend an embarrassing amount of time peering between the gaps of people from a distance before realizing the seaweed are actually eels.

“nature,” woojin murmurs as they move forward to the jellyfish exhibit, “is amazing.”

“be amazed later, daehwi’s family is waiting.”

they scuttle back to the otters just in time, sending photo after photo to daehwi of his “furry side of the family” and receiving increasingly irate stickers in response.

 

they skip the penguin feeding (unwillingly on woojin’s end) in favor of finding their own lunch. outside, the sky is still casting a gloomy shadow on the streets, and the wind stabs through jihoon’s unprotected throat like shards of ice.

a weight on his shoulders tips him back from despair, and he finds woojin’s arm resting around him familiarly, tanned hand forming a peace sign in front of jihoon’s face. “thanks.”

woojin sings, “ _hug me just once, hug me once_.”

“i thought you only knew twice,” gasps jihoon, tucking his hand into woojin’s pocket. ooh, a hand warmer. he’d forgotten to buy that.

woojin pastes on a convincingly offended look. “excuse your face, i was educated better than that.”

“i’ll send your teacher my condolences.”

“my repertoire is vast!” woojin continues as if he didn’t hear a thing.

 

dithering once more outside yeouido station, jihoon almost presses his face to the convenience store’s glass window, goggling at the cup ramen.

“there’s a store close to your place,” woojin reminds him. “it’ll be a shorter wait time between buying and eating.”

“hm…”

“we can cook ramen in a pot. add eggs and cheese and everything.”

“ _hm_ …”

“ _i’ll_ cook,” woojin finally declares.

jihoon detaches from the store window. “okay.”

 

“let’s get the unlimited pass next time,” jihoon says when they’re on the train. there are a few empty seats but they remain standing anyway; no longer holding onto each other, just close enough to share warmth.

“sky art? you don’t want to go somewhere else?”

“i meant next time we come here, stupid. we can go somewhere else too.”

“not namsan.”

“no, not the other tall place with the nice view.”

woojin quirks a grin. “that crosses out all of the mountains _and_ lotte tower off our list. what about water?”

“depends.” jihoon rubs his chin consideringly. “how much water are you talking about?”

“ocean’s worth.”

jihoon nods. “find me an ocean, woojin.”

“yes, my prince,” woojin chuckles.

jihoon leans against him, disguising it in the train’s motion. his eyelids feel heavier.

“jihoon?”

“mm?”

woojin breathes out, focused on one corner of the train doors. “you can rest on my shoulder for a bit,” he offers in a quiet voice.

“m’kay,” jihoon mumbles. his forehead presses against the seam of woojin’s coat and he wonders if it’ll leave a mark. “nap at my place?”

for some reason, woojin takes a few seconds to respond. “yeah,” he says after a shifty motion (jihoon peeks at the tail end of woojin’s phone slipping noiselessly into a pocket). “we’ll have that ramen for dinner.”

jihoon lets his eyes close as he murmurs, “good plan. let’s not mess it up.”

**Author's Note:**

> in other news, woojin gets a new wallpaper.
> 
> -
> 
> Let me know what you think in a comment!


End file.
